Japan

Facial tissues, comprising boxed facial tissues and pocket handkerchiefs, witnessed a significant drop in demand in 2020, due to home seclusion as a result of the pandemic. Usage of facial tissues was therefore limited, as the population was less…

Vending machines have a large presence in Japan and have been part of local culture for decades. The pandemic resulted in a strong sales decline for vending in 2020 followed by a low decline in 2021 due to restrictions and lower footfall in…

Value sales of convenience stores, the only category within convenience retailers in Japan at the end of the review period, were on an upward trend prior to the emergence of COVID-19. After a sudden decline in 2020 due to the pandemic and subsequent…

In 2020, air care saw stronger retail volume and current value growth than in the previous few years, as COVID-19 emerged and spread in Japan. This was mainly for two reasons. One was a trend led by home seclusion – to make the home a better place in…

The impact of COVID-19 continued in 2022, as the states of emergency and quasi-states of emergency announced to prevent the spread of the virus continued in Tokyo, Osaka, and other major cities until the end of March 2022. However, womenswear showed…

There was a time when functions meant value in appliances. Microwaves were first released around 1960 in Japan, beginning with business use and expanding to consumer use. At the time these were considered super premium products and were not…

Floor polish is not a standard product for many of the younger generation. It might have been used by the older generations, but this custom has not continued strongly. It is very time-consuming and tiring to use on a regular basis. Another reason…

Dishwashing was one of the large home care categories that grew well in current value terms in 2020. Increased time spent at home during the pandemic led to greater frequency of consumption of food and drinks at home, which led to increased frequency…

Like other home care categories, after seeing exceptional growth in 2020, driven by COVID-19, bleach also saw a drop in its current value sales in 2021, which continued in 2022. In spring 2020, some consumers were very concerned about the pandemic…

The impact of COVID-19 continued into 2022, as states of emergency and quasi-states of emergency announced to prevent the spread of COVID-19 continued in major cities such as Tokyo and Osaka until the end of March 2022. However, with the easing of…

Despite the expectation of marginal retail volume decline in 2022, after an exceptional year of growth in 2021, a dishwasher is still amongst the top three “must-haves” for households with busy lifestyles, typically those with children and both…

Apparel accessories experienced a strong current value decline in 2022, mainly due to an unstoppable decline in demand for fashion masks (included under other apparel accessories). Nevertheless, business items such as ties and belts recovered…

Consumer foodservice in Japan finally saw double-digit growth in current value sales in 2022, after it suffered declines for two consecutive years as quasi-states of emergency and states of emergency were implemented several times throughout 2020 and…

Home seclusion was a trend throughout both 2020 and 2021. In 2020, people were forced to stay at home due to COVID-19, especially in April and May, when the state of emergency, a soft lockdown with few legitimate punishments, was declared by the…

Home insecticides in Japan saw double-digit growth in 2020 in both volume and current value terms. As home seclusion expanded and rooted from early 2020, people realised that they needed to invest more in bug prevention, especially with the increased…

Sanitary protection in Japan experienced another year of marginal retail volume decline in 2022, while the average unit price increased to its highest level of the review period, and indeed the previous decade. This resulted in positive current value…

The growth of freezers kept overall volume sales of refrigeration appliances in positive territory in 2020 and 2021. During the prolonged home seclusion from spring 2020 to late 2021 and even early 2022, consumers cooked and ate at home more…

Although childrenswear can be expected to experience a faster replacement cycle than other apparel and footwear categories, due to children’s constant physical growth, in 2022 sales continued to be depressed by the long-term declining birth rate, as…

In 2020, surface care saw double-digit current value growth for; indeed, growth was not just double-digit, but more than 30%. The panic after the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic drove growth due to rising consciousness of hygiene amongst…

Even after the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which were postponed a year and held in the summer of 2021, sportswear did not show a particularly sharp recovery from the decline seen in 2020, as the number of COVID-19 cases increased rapidly, and many consumers…